Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises Temasek on investment into SME-focused investment fund

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised Heliconia Capital Management Limited, a Temasek-seeded fund manager on its investment into a newly launched private equity fund targeting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore and south east Asia.

The fund will be managed by Dymon Asia Capital and will be focused on making investments in Singapore and south-east Asia-headquartered companies ranging from S$20 million to S$50 million.

The fund held its first closing with an initial S$203 million of commitments comprising a S$100 million commitment from Heliconia and an additional S$103 million of commitments from private investors. Heliconia's investment is part of an initial S$250 million seed injection by the Singapore government under an SME-nurturing programme, which equally matches private to public funding. The size of the programme is expected to reach S$1.5 billion eventually.

Earlier this year, Heliconia also invested in another private equity fund managed by Credence Partners which also invests in SMEs, on which Clifford Chance also advised.

Han Ming Ho, lead partner on this transaction commented, "Singapore and south east Asia presents a wide-range of opportunities for alternative fund managers. This is one example of a fund tapping into a niche market that has been relatively overlooked, and represents one of the opportunities available in this region."

Han Ming was assisted on this transaction by senior associate Joel Seow and associate Zealie Ainsworth. The same team also advised on the Credence Partners transaction mentioned above.

Heliconia Capital Management is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek.